by Karla Darocas, Instructor

Business & IT Skills Training

www.Darocas.com

As late as 1995, Spain was the backwater of Europe, with 23 percent unemployment. In 1993, the economy contracted 1 percent. Today, Spain is the continent’s economic champion. Since 2002, it has created more than half of the 5 million new jobs in the 13-nation euro area, according to Eurostat, the EU’s Luxembourg-based statistics office.

Spain contributed more to growth in the euro zone in 2005 than any other country, adding 65 billion euros to the economy compared with France’s 51 billion euros and Germany’s 34 billion. In 2006, Spain generated the second-highest growth, after France.

Rapid expansion creates booming financial markets. The Ibex 35, Spain’s benchmark stock index, was the best performer among 18 West European indexes in 2006, gaining 31 percent. As of Feb. 27, the Ibex was up 1.9 percent this year.

Entrepreneurs in Spain can take advantage of this sustainable financial growth and really seek inspirational business ideas. When there is money in the pocket – then consumers will leave home and shop, especially if the price is right.

Spend some time shopping and see what is out in the marketplace that looks promising and offers something basic with a new twist or a radical new design. The best ideas take old customer needs and breathe new life into them.

Success can really just be a matter of inspiration and perspiration. Sometimes a good idea is right in front of you. Taking a problem and creating a solution is often the best way to produce a killer business.

Start small but carry a big stick is a good way to keep your expenses down while you are testing your ideas on your marketplace. Attack smaller localized markets that big companies can’t reach by selling services and products that you can’t get unless you go to the big cities.

Join a business networking club – like the Spain Business Network – www.SpainBusiness.ning.com – which offers all types of features to help you build better relationships with other business people. It is a new internet-based network – but it has all of the networking options that you want to help grow your business. Within the site, you can profile yourself and your business which is a good launch into the world of Internet marketing. You can also share photos with other members in order to teach each other about the different locations in Spain. You can also upload your own webmercials, which are video commercials that run on a web format. You can also join the different clubs that operate and share information within the network. There is also a forum section that lets you post questions and get answers from other members.

Report by Karla Darocas, Instructor

Business & IT Skills Training

www.Darocas.com